In association with

Enemy at the Gates [2001]
from Pathe Distribution
starring Jude Law|Joseph Fiennes
directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

Enemy at the Gates opens with a pivotal event of World War II--the German invasion of Stalingrad--recreated in Saving Private Ryan-like epic scale as ill-trained Russian soldiers face German attack or punitive execution if they flee from the enemy's advance. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud captures this madness with urgent authenticity, creating a massive context for a more intimate battle waged amidst the city's ruins. Embellished from its basis in fact, the story shifts to an intense cat-and-mouse game between a Russian shepherd raised to iconic fame, and a German marksman whose skill is unmatched in its lethal precision. Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law) has been sniping Nazis one bullet at a time, while the German Major Konig (Ed Harris) has been assigned to kill Vassily and spare Hitler from further embarrassment. There's love in this war, too, as Vassily connects with a woman soldier (Rachel Weisz), but she is also loved by Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the Soviet officer who promotes his friend Vassily as Russia's much-needed hero. This romantic rivalry lends marginal interest to the central plot, but it's not enough to make this a classic war film. Instead it's a taut, well-made suspense thriller isolated within an epic battle, and although Annaud and cowriter Alain Godard (drawing from William Craig's book and David L Robbins' novel The War of the Rats) fail to connect the parallel plots with any lasting impact, the production is never less than impressive. Highly conventional but handled with intelligence and superior craftsmanship, this is warfare as strategic entertainment, without compromising warfare as a man-made hell on Earth. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

On the DVD: with a choice of Dolby 5.1 or DTS the sound is suitably spectacular (James Horner's Prokofiev-inspired score comes up well amid whizzing bullets and explosions), while the 2.35:1 anamorphic picture makes the best of the epic battle sequences. "Through the Crosshairs" is a standard 20-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, which is complemented by "Inside Enemy at the Gates", a 15-minute montage of interviews with the stars and director. There's also a 25-minute French-made documentary (with English subtitles) about the real battle that includes a short interview with the real Vassily Zaitsev. Eight brief deleted scenes can be played separately or neatly inserted into the movie by pressing Enter when the gun sight icon appears on screen. The commentary by director Jean-Jacques Annaud is as informative as might be expected from a director who always seems passionate about his film projects. Storyboards, posters, a trailer and filmographies round out an excellent disc package. --Mark Walker

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Could Have Been Good, But It Ain't.
  This film looks very good, the set, cinematography and initially the atmosphere, but the more i watched it the more i was left bemused as to why a posh english couple were fighting for the Soviet Union, allot of the accents are bad in this film but at least they're making some effort.
  The film starts to get quite interesting when the German sniper comes on the scene but then the love story starts to develop and thats the point when you want to switch it off.
  This film is mildly entertaining ( if... more info

• One of the best war movies
  This is one of the best war movies ever, in my opinion, together with 'Platoon' and 'Black Hawk Down'. It is very realistic, conveying masterly how it could be to be a sniper in Stalingrad. It is also very accurate historically, for example, it is true that, at the start of the battle, men were thrown in, on the Soviet side, without weapons. The story itself is also based on real events. Finally, the actors are simply brilliant, from Jude Law, to Rachel Weisz, to the little boy.

• A great war movie
  A great movie that captures the grim reality of the siege of Stalingrad and the lunacy of the Russian war strategy in the wake of Joseph Stalin's decimation of the military officer classses. Okay, as some reviewers have remarked, the accents are a bit dodgy, but let's face it, fake Russian accents are irritating, and I don't want to listen to Russian dialogue with subtitles. Jude Law handles the role of Vasily fine, though perhaps he sounds a little too refined for a semi-literate Russian peasant. The star... more info

• 2* or 3*?
  I hovered over my ranking for this and have finally gone for the generous 3* because there were bits that were genuinely gripping: i.e. Ed Harris' powerful performance of the cold and enigmatic German sniper, and Bob Hoskin's completely left-field Kruschev.
  However as other reviewers have said, the rest is a wasted opportunity. Jude Law completely fails to be anything more than inadequate as the reluctant Soviet hero; the normally passionately-intensive Joseph Fiennes has absolutely nothing to get his... more info

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